The Veteran (Semi) Professional
Honesty and advice to help veterans crush it at grad school, in entrepreneurship, and in professional careers. Humor and language often not as professional.
Episodes
232 episodes
Ep. 229: Using AI to Get $100 million to Veterans at Vetclaims.ai with Lukas Simianer
Lukas is a previous guest and we talk about the VC-backed startup from our first episode that he shut down. But his new project, Vetclaims.ai , is pretty awesome. ...
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45:08
Ep 228: A Deep Dive on the VA Home Loan with Mortgage Expert Chris Wesson
Today we have a conversation going into all the ins and out of the VA home loan with former Marine and mortgage expert, Chris Wesson.
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31:04
Ep. 227: Rich Routines for Business, Family, and Wealth with Steve Houghton
I got connected with Steve from a guy on X (formerly, Twitter). Steve has been INCREDIBLY successful and was very gracious with his time to discuss his new book:
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44:26
Ep. 226: Living Abroad, Running Online Businesses, and Building a Great Life with Family with Alex Lisot
Alex went from flying fighter jets to running an e-commerce company, living abroad, and investing in real estate. He is one of the coolest cats I've met-enjoy!
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36:55
Ep. 225: Starting a CBD Company, Finding a Purposeful Career, and Enlisted to MBA with Alexander Mikhailovsky
Alex is a first-year MBA student and founder of Organic Grit, a CBD company. We talk about founding a company on active duty, applying to MBA programs, and choosing a purposeful career.&n...
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40:45
Ep. 224: Running a $700 Million Company That Helps Business Owners Build Wealth with Mike Stone from CertaPro Painters
I've had a number of franchisees and business owners on the show, but Mike is the first from the side of a franchisor (think: corporate). He is the CEO of CertaPro Painting, where he gets to see how locations across the country perform in...
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37:14
Ep. 223: Heading to Medical School After the Military with Air Force Veteran Austin Almand
First- Austin would be on my short list for Most Interesting Man in the World. - Air Force SOF- Casually mentions going to Ukraine (during the war) - Tillman Scholar - Researched medicine for NASAPlus ...
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52:24
Ep. 222: Owning a Home Inspection Franchise after a Career in the Military and Law Enforcement with Shawn Degan
Shawn spent time in law enforcement and retired from the Navy and then decided he wanted to own his own business. He partnered with WIN Home Inspections and has been loving every bit of it.
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35:57
Ep. 221: Using Surfing To Heal Veterans with Stephanie Dasher from Warrior Surf
Today's guest is Stephanie Dasher, executive director of Warrior Surf Foundation (WSF), a Charleston nonprofit founded in May 2015. WSF works...
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31:11
Ep. 220: Running a Financial Services Business to Connect with Your Community and Contribute to Veterans with Brian McCarver
Brian left the army and moved back home, eventually buying a small financial services firm and growing it. We talk about how that helps tie him into his local community and how he uses his network and business to give back to other vetera...
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41:22
Ep. 219: Using Military Experience to Consult with F500 Companies and Build in Private Equity with Afterburner, Inc. Founder and Chairman Jim Murphy
Afterburner Fighter Pilots - Motivational Keynote SpeakersDown Range: A Transitioning Veteran's...
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40:34
Ep. 218: Former Marine to 22% Lifetime Returns Investing In Stocks with Erik Smolinski
Erik is the first stock trader I've had on the podcast and he talks about how he got started in investing and why he loves this path for building wealth.
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53:22
Ep. 217: Air Force Veteran Jon Stoddard on Buying Businesses
Jon is a prominent voice in the business acquisition community and got his start in buying businesses after leaving the Air Force. Resources Mentioned:
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44:00
Ep. 216: The Art of the Career Pivot with Kathy Borkoski (Ex- Stunt Performer, Big Tech, Gov, Con, and Navy EOD)
Kathy has QUITE a story. She's bounced around from industry and industry and mastered the art of changing careers. Listen how this Navy EOD veteran went from the military to being a stunt performer to names like Facebook and Crossfi...
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45:56
Ep. 215: Navy SEAL to Private Equity and Launching a Search Fund with Jack Ogden of Island Search
I've had a lot of people on the show talk about buying businesses and have tangentially mentioned the traditional search fund model before, but Jack Ogden is the first guest on the show who is currently running a search fund. R...
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48:38
Ep. 214: Finding Common Ground through a Willingness to Learn and Investing in America with Jordan Blashek
Jordan is using his love for our country to work with high-profile investors to invest in the American economy and defense. Union: A Democrat...
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48:18
Ep. 213: Writing, Crowdfunding, and How Being Cheeky Can Get a Dream Job with Caleb Naysmith
Caleb writes on equity crowdfunding. See how his side hustle turned into a dream job for him. Caleb Naysmith (@cc...
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32:25
Ep. 212: Army Diver (Yes, it's a thing) to ATMs and Auto Parts E-Commerce with Charles Masters Rodriguez
Charles left the army and immediately launched himself into entrepreneurship. It wasn't all smooth sailing, but he found a way to his current niche and is finding a way to make it happen. MK...
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43:33
Ep. 211: Enlisted Cav Scout to Software Developer and Building a Venture-Backed Software Company with Purpose with Luke Simianer
Luke's story of how he created Clusiv literally brought me to tears. You will want to hear it. You will also laugh at his story of nervously pounding some red bulls before an investor pitch...and winning the competition. &nbs...
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46:34
Ep. 210: Building the Veteran Coffee Company That is Actually Different with Michael Klemmer of Aerial Resupply Coffee
A veteran with a t-shirt or coffee company?! How original. In all seriousness, what Mike is building at ARC is different. He wants to be the antithesis to Black Rifle Coffee Company and isn't afraid to say it. ...
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1:00:06
Ep. 209: Building a Business off of Having with Backyard Game Designer and Air Force Veteran Matt Butler
Minnesota-native Matt Butler is the inventor of Rollors. The concept was first visualized on downtime between deployments overseas in Iraq and Afghanistan supporting combat operations. Upon return, Matt developed a prototype in his garage that ...
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44:06
Ep. 208: Army Ranger To Life Coach: What the Struggle We Have Enables Us to Share, with Nick Devlin
https://www.nickdevlincoaching.com/aboutNick's bio:"I am a transformational life coach, entrepreneur, father and former US Army Ranger. My mission is to empower you to live your life as an adventure - with peace, passion a...
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45:12
Ep. 207: Leaving the Military at the 10-15 Year Period, Using Twitter, and Building a Real Estate Private Equity Firm with John Plumstead
John weighed the decision: is it worth it to stay until retirement? For many, the pension and benefits seem too good to pass up, but John decided it was worth the risk and left when he everyone said he was crazy. He then leveraged h...
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41:42
Ep. 206: Army Medic to Software Developer, Living Abroad, and Building Impactful Products in Web3 with Patrick Skinner
Patrick did what a lot of people do after the military: he went into contracting. Then he ended up applying to Y Combinator with a Web3 technology (listen if you don't know what that is) that helps curb counterfeit products and child labo...
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56:19